Being Frugal is Never Boring



One of the very first frugal things I did as a new homemaker who was also newly unemployed was to find out how I might make a savings in my home.  It was the late 1970's when I found myself without a job  during an economic recession that affected our household as it had many others.  Books and magazines suddenly abounded with information on how to save money and I soaked it all up like a sponge.

I focused first on washing out the baggies that I put my husband's daily lunch sandwich in.  It was a tiny savings at that time but times were desperate.  It became a habit that I kept up for 43 years.


Then I pulled out my favorite old cookbook and picked up a few women's magazines special publications with thrifty meal ideas, sought out budget cookbooks at the library,  and I learned to cook with less meat.   My first husband, like John, was not going to go meat free, but it was in this recession that I first began exploring the possibilities of how far to stretch a single chicken or pound of ground meat to make several servings, not just enough for four.

We sold newer cars and purchased an older one and became a one car household.  That meant we could reduce insurance coverage, but it also severely limited my ability to shop,  as well.  Admittedly I was never one to haunt the stores but when you've no choice but to make do every pay period then you make do.

We stopped using the dryer and started hanging out clothes.  I will say this for my first husband, he built most excellent sturdy clotheslines.  I learned to treat stains so that I could make our clothes look nice for as long as possible.

Truth told, there wasn't a lot more I could do except go without, so we went without.   

When I got pregnant the next year, I quickly saw the value in cloth diapers and requested them from anyone who asked what I could use.  

This was how my frugal journey began.  

When John and I met, my frugal kitchen habits kept five kids and two adults fed and satisfied.  Most all of the things I'd done from the beginning continued to be the norm.  Except with Katie in nursery I was required to use paper diapers...and when I did go home with her at 9 months I discovered that cloth diapers were out of vogue and nowhere to be found.  This was in the days prior to internet and clever mama's who'd created a home business with homemade cloth diapers and diaper covers.

With five kids and two adults, two loads of laundry were usual every day, and drying clothes on the line was not always feasible.  We used the washer and dryer every single day.   

As time went on, things changed.  The family size decreased, the budgets we had increased.   Family sized increased and the budget decreased.  Everything changes over and over again.

Two years ago, I gave up washing out zippered baggies to reuse.    With six in the house at that time, suddenly the kitchen was always in use and to have to wash baggies, turn them inside out to dry and then inside in once more to finish drying, ate up more  real estate, time and attention than I had to spare.

What resulted was that after 40 odd years of washing out baggies, the ship didn't sink financially.  Bess and I looked long and hard at other storage options and only used a baggie when nothing else would do.  We found a way to make a new savings and that's something that has been repeated all through my frugal years: for every way I find it's no longer feasible to continue a task or method of savings, a new one comes along to help in a different area.

Frugal living is always changing.  It is never stagnant.  It's not a one size fits all sort of thing.   Frugality is a marvelous tool but what it looks like today is not what it necessarily will look like a year from now.  That's what makes it so interesting and fun to me and makes being frugal anything but boring.    

12 comments:

Deanna said...

I so liked this post. I noticed that you have had a diabetic journey. When I can, I'll be reading your post about diabetes. I have much to learn.
Blessings,
d

Louise said...

LOL I thought after my hubby passed away that I didn't have to be frugal anymore but I hadn't taken into consideration that when he passed so did his paycheck so I was back to pinching pennies,. then Canada took away our pennies so now I pinch nickels.. there are more ways I could cut back but during this pandemic time I NEED my satellite and my cell phone and internet to keep in touch with family.. and now the cost of food is rising and I have no place to have a garden.. so there will be more cut backs for me. So much for the "golden years". haha

Shirley in Washington said...

This summer was busy and hot for the Pacific NW! I feel like I let go of some of my long standing frugal practices and went into survival mode. The last week or so I have been thinking through frugal practices I want to get back into as fall and cooler weather emerge. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and the good reminders! Blessings, Shirley

Chef Owings said...

I use my sock drying rack for plastic bags and silicon covers for my bowls. It hangs off the shower curtain rod over the bath mat.

I grew up with paper napkins and paper towels. My kids complained about me having both when a paper towel would work for either. Now I have RAGS for paper towels and cloth napkins. Paper towels are for grease and dog puke.

I reuse more than I did. Save more than I did. Garden more than I did. Used kid's sand buckets to grow veggies when I had no garden I'd put them in a bucket to water so I could save the water to water other pots.

I just ordered my 3rd drying rack and I have 2 clothes lines 12 ft long on the porch and 4 lines in the yard that are 45 ft long. Dryer doesn't see much action. I fluff the pillows in it and also dry them when I wash them.

Golden years look to be a loss in Social Security (which we never counted on anyways) and poor earnings in the IRA with expenses not covered by Medicare especially high cost drugs...frugal, tightening on the purse is the only option I can see.

Lana said...

I was blessed to be raised pinching every penny so I thought that was how everybody lived! We have finally reached the point of having some extra money most months which is nice. SS cola is going to be big for 2022 so maybe all of us retirees can gain a little breathing room.

And commenting back on iBotta-
We often go weeks at a time without any cash back and then there will be a few weeks of awesome deals and we really make money on it. We don't worry about it. Right now we both have less than a dollar and have to get to $20 again before we can cash out. Before last week I had $14 and Hubby had $17 for many weeks and then the deals showed up and I went up to $27 and Hubby $33. Then we cashed out $60. It could be a couple of months or even just weeks until the deals come along my again but we are willing to wait for them to keep making money back to the grocery budget.

terricheney said...

Deanna, I wrote a lot about it in June, July, August 2015 and then I did a series on nutrition and have several mentions scattered through out posts in 2015 and 2016. I hope you can find any information you might need. I've done well. I've maintained my small weight loss, have never required more than Metformin and manage my diet for the most part. My last A1C was in the range of Pre-diabetes and not full blown diabetes any longer.

Lana, A cola would not be something I'd sneeze at! I'll check out Ibotta. Do you have a referral code?

Juls, We were just talking this afternoon about how we might earn more money if necessary...Isn't that odd for two very recent retirees? But we've not found retirement all roses and chocolates thus far. We've learned a few hard lessons...

Louise, I am very well aware that when my husband passes away, if he goes before I do, that I shall have a further reduced income. I am sure I'll manage on my own but it is a help to have him there restraining my spending at time, and works the same for him. I often restrain him from spending.

Tracy said...

Being English, I drink a lot of tea. For years I used 1 teabag per mug, but that seemed rather wasteful. My husband suggested loose leaf tea, but our large teapots were too big and I hated getting bits of tealeaf in my drink and that happened even when using a strainer. Yuck! Then we were gifted a small teapot. It is just big enough to hold the right amount of tea to fill two mugs and one teabag, left to brew in it for a few minutes, produces a lovely cuppa. It is only a small change and a small saving, but we took an awful long time getting there!

Lana said...

My referral code for iBotta is frokulm
You will get a $10 bonus when you submit your first receipt. Thanks!

Last I heard SS cola is 6.2 percent. Nothing to sneeze at! My husband never got even a penny raise all the years he worked for IBM so these little SS raises just seem amazing to us. We would hear on the news that IBM made record profits and the next morning Hubby would have an email from the company that said those profits have nothing to do with your department so no raise for you!

Margie from Toronto said...

This was such an interesting post - thank you for always having something thoughtful to reflect upon.

Mommamurty said...

Hi ! Just wanted to take a money to let you know how much I apprehend time and effort you share with the world through your blog. I was raised to be frugal so it comes naturally to me but I love the sharing of ideas and the organization and thought processes. This post was great. I enjoyed the reminder that frugal methods change with the seasons of life and that is part of the challenge and the fun. Thanks so much for sharing your time and words with us

Donna said...

My parents lived a frugal life and while I haven't always been as frugal as I could have been, now I find it a game. How can we reuse something or stretch ingredients to make more than one meal. There are so many living frugal blogs and I learn something from each one.

terricheney said...

Tracy I too dislike loose tea leaves in my cup of tea. I fought with that just this morning. And sure sign fall is coming, I was craving that cup of tea which I've bypassed now for months. Just a quick tip to share, my grandmother told me that her grandmother always made second tea from her loose tea and then poured over her geraniums. She swore it made them bloom and stay green longer.

Lana, downloading app now...I apparently have an ibotta account...I must have signed up quite awhile back. I'll see if it will let me do a referral code so you can get some credit too.
As you know, John's paramedic position gave a raise only about once every four years...lol So yes, any raise we get from SS will be holiday worthy, except his medicare is bound to increase as well. It took all of our last raise.

Thank you Margie! I so enjoy reading your comments on other blogs. Glad to see you visiting here.

Mommamurty, thank you! And thank you too for taking time to comment. No, no season stays the same not even the frugal life. I have done so many things to save over the years but programs change, etc.

Donna my grandmothers were my frugal inspiration. My mother had some good ideas for saving money but she had way more for spending wildly, lol. I use her frugal ones and have learned to avoid the wild women.

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